Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,024 discloses plural thin disk orifice members forming a stack at the nozzle from which liquid fuel is injected from the injector and into the engine. This disk stack is disposed downstream of the electrically operated valve mechanism that controls flow through the fuel injector.
Fuel injectors that impart swirl to the injected fuel, such as commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,945 issued Dec. 15, 1992 and entitled "Fuel Injector That Swirls and Throttles The Flow To Create A Torodial Fuel Cloud", typically have swirl passages disposed upstream of the valve seat. The usual purpose for imparting swirl is to improve the quality of fuel atomization.
The present invention relates to a novel means for imparting swirl to fuel that is capable of attaining even greater improvement in fuel atomization by incorporating the swirl producing means into a disk stack at the nozzle of a fuel injector. Swirl can thereby be accomplished in a relatively short axial length of the fuel injector, downstream of the valve seat.
The foregoing, along with additional features, advantages, and benefits of the invention, will be seen in the ensuing description and claims which are accompanied by drawings. The drawings disclose a presently preferred embodiment of the invention according to the best mode contemplated at this time in carrying out the invention.